In Uttarakhand, Congress seeks to regain foothold, BJP aims at 3rd sweep

Neeraj Mohan

Haridwar, April 15

Only three days are left for polling and the political landscape of Uttarakhand, fondly known as Dev Bhoomi, undergoes a transformative phase as the BJP has been working hard for another clean sweep in the hill state. Having failed to win even a single Lok Sabha seat in the past two elections, the Congress’ state leadership is striving to regain the lost ground, but the grand old party faces a tough electoral challenge in the state.

Missing star campaigners

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• The Congress had released a long list of 40 star campaigners but most of the key leaders haven’t reached the state for electioneering yet.
• In 2009, the Congress had won all the five Lok Sabha seats but failed to open its account in 2014 & 2019

The BJP, buoyed by its previous electoral successes and bolstered by achievements such as the pioneering Uniform Civil Code (UCC), construction of several highways under the Char Dham Yatra project and the successful rescue of labourers from the Silkyara tunnel, is setting its sights on capturing all five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand for the third consecutive time.

Among the big faces in the fray are former CM Trivendra Rawat fighting against ex-Congress CM Harish Rawat’s son Virendra Singh Rawat from Haridwar, BJP’s national spokesperson Anil Baluni against Congress’ state chief Ganesh Godiyal in Pauri-Gharwal, Union minister Ajay Bhatt of BJP facing Prakash Joshi in Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar and BJP’s Ajay Tamta contesting against Congress’ Pradeep Tamta in Almora. Besides, the BJP has re-nominated the titular queen of the erstwhile kingdom, Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, against Congress’ Jot Singh Gunsola.